5 Freeway to close for military event at Camp Pendleton on Saturday: What to know

A part of the 5 Freeway will be shut down for an event at Camp Pendleton being attended by Vice President JD Vance on Saturday, despite reports earlier this week indicating it wouldn’t be closed. 

California Highway Patrol officials announced Saturday morning at 6 a.m. that the closure will be in effect from Basilone Road – an off-ramp that accesses Camp Pendleton – and Harbor Drive in Oceanside.  

The approximately 17-mile stretch of roadway will be closed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., CHP advised. 

The event is a military celebration marking the United States Marine Corps’ 250^th birthday. Included in the festivities is a live-fire amphibious capabilities demonstration at Red Beach, according to a USMC media statement. Vice President Vance is also slated to speak.

“The capabilities demonstration will feature integrated Navy and Marine Corps operations across air, land and sea,” the statement reads.

The statement also indicated “no public highways or transportation routes [would be] closed,” but Caltrans told KTLA on Thursday that they were informed of a potential plan to close the freeway despite their cautioning against it.

The department of transportation issued a statement just before 8 a.m. Saturday clarifying details on the shutdown.

“Due to safety concerns, a section of Interstate 5 will be closed Saturday due to a White House-directed military event at Camp Pendleton involving live ammunition being discharged over the freeway,” Caltrans said. “Because of the event and closure, drivers should expect delays on Interstate 5 and other state routes throughout Southern California before, during and after the event.”

In addition to the freeway, local train services will also be impacted by the celebration.

Caltrans provided the following detour routes for drivers who need to get through the area:

• San Diego County: Drivers needing to go north through San Diego County will have to take State Route 15. Those west of SR-15 along the 5 Freeway corridor are advised to use State Route 94, State Route 52, State Route 56 or State Route 78 to the northbound 15 Freeway
• L.A. County: Drivers needing to go north from San Diego County to L.A. County are advised to take the northbound 15 Freeway to westbound State Route 91. Drivers going south from L.A. County to San Diego County should take eastbound State Route 91 to the southbound 15 Freeway
• Orange County: To get to O.C. from San Diego County, drivers should take the northbound 15 Freeway to westbound State Route 91 and then southbound State Route 55. Need to go the other way? Take northbound State Route 55 to eastbound State Route 91 to the southbound 15 Freeway
• Riverside County: Travelers to and from RivCo are advised to take the 15 Freeway and State Route 91

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to criticize federal leaders for their decision to shut down the critical stretch of 5 Freeway between Orange County and North San Diego County, calling the event “a vanity parade” in a social media post on Wednesday.  

“PUT ASIDE YOUR VANITY PARADE AND PAY OUR TROOPS INSTEAD,” he said. 

Late Friday night, he doubled down on the criticism. 

“This is a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s way,” Newsom said of the plan to fire live artillery over the freeway. “Flying live rounds over a busy highway without coordination between state, federal, and local partners isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.”

The event will take place as thousands are expected to gather for “No Kings” rallies across the country, including in Southern California.

JD Vance has several ties to the Marine Corps and the San Diego area, as he served as a combat correspondent in the Marines for four years and was deployed to Iraq. In addition, Vance’s wife, Usha, grew up in the community of Rancho Peñasquitos, and her family is deep rooted in the San Diego academic community; her mother, Lakshmi Chilukuri, is the provost of Sixth College at the University of California-San Diego while her father, Krish Chilukuri, is an aerospace engineer and lecturer at San Diego State University.

Camp Pendleton is one of the Marine Corps’ most important training bases, having trained hundreds of thousands of Marines since its establishment in 1942. The base remains a vital hub for amphibious and expeditionary training and operations.